How to Sit in Ardha Padmasana

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How to Sit in Ardha Padmasana

Goal: Your sitting must be as comfortable as possible involving no muscle

tension whatsoever. The body must be biomechanically balanced in such a way

that it stays erect without applying any (or absolutely minimal for that matter)

muscle tension. Be fully relaxed head to toe while sitting.

Test: If your mind-body balance is proper you should be able to sit without

moving a single muscle for hours. At present I often sit still in Ardha

Padmasana for good 2:30 hours and only the pain in the skin on my sit bones

would make me move by the end of that period. Eventually you should be able

to sleep or even die sitting without change in the posture. The moment you'll be

getting up you should be able to raise from your seat without pain, without

adjusting nor releasing asleep legs etc.

Mistakes: Although Ardha Padmasana is easier on the knees and ankles for

beginners please keep in mind that Ardha Padmasana is technically more

difficult to perform correctly and more error-prone than Padmasana (full-lotus).

Do not try to sit too low as you have seen on the movies or posters. If fact,

many people who sit too low do not sit properly, even in India and throughout

Asia. To get it right for yourself, use the test above. In the beginning do not

play ego games and do not be ashamed to sit high. Men, do not sit on your

testicles! There is such a risk when sitting high. They will hurt if you do so.

Adjust them at sitting time if needed.

Physical conditioning: Sitting requires flexibility in the lower back, hips,

thighs and ankles. Muscle tension, especially in the back, shoulders and legs, is

extremely unfavourable for proper sitting. If you find out that you cannot sit

properly it's quite feasible that it's not only your lack of flexibility but the

tension in your muscles caused by thoughts and emotions too. To gain

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flexibility practice Yin Yoga. If you don't have good flexibility in the hips you'll

hurt yourself sooner or later so you'd want to invest time and effort in

preparation through the Yin Yoga. To gain relaxation in mind and body practice

mindfulness meditation -- which is best developed through sitting anyway.

Cushion: For Ardha Padmasana (half-lotus) posture it's better to use a half-

moon cushion which allows room for the lower foot and support for the thighs.

A round, thin cushion (classic zafu) is better used for Padmasana (full-

lotus). You sit on the edge of the cushion so that it pushes your back at 45

degree angle up and forward but not flat on the top of the cusion. There are a

few appropriate fillings for a sitting cushion: kapok, spelta hulls, buckwheat

hulls, quallofil; read Kapok vs Buckwheat article. You may put a hard piece of

material under the back of the cushion to "harden" it a bit and give additional

tilt. Keep in mind that cushions compress with time so check it every couple of

weeks or whenever you feel mysterious changes in your otherwise perfected

sitting.

Mat: Use a sitting mat about 1 x 1 meter in size and 5-7 cm thick. The mat

should be filled with soft but thick matter like wool. You may use a folded

blanket as well.

Props: If you feel pain in the lower ankle you may like to use a little soft

padding 30 x 15 cm and 1-2 cm high to ease the tension by putting it in front of

the cushion (forming a T-shape). You may put the same piece under the knee

of the upper leg if required.

Dress: Wear loose pants that allow for making a good base for the hands. Feet

should be bare. You may cover with a blanket.

Other: Use a mosquito net if needed. If you want to make one, use a ring 1m

in diameter to put the net around and hang if from the ceiling like they do in

Southeast Asia.

Posture:

Sit bones: You sit on your sit bones but not on your soft buttocks. You may

feel the hardness of your sharp sit bones as you grab your buttocks with

your hands. ALL the weight of the torso and upper body is applied to the sit

bones via the spine. The legs bear ONLY their own weight and NO weight of

the body. The moment you put weight on your bent knees you hurt them!

You sit on the sit bones and the point between the anus and the genitals

where the Muladhara chakra is. Perform some Mulabandha to develop the

feeling.

Left/right leg: The left leg being up is more calming as it activates the Ida

nadi and the left, passive part of the body. The right leg being up is moreenergizing as it stimulates the Pingala nadi and the right, active part of

the body. Yet some people cannot tell the difference so give it a try

yourself.

Back: The back is straight! This means the back is visually straight

however if the sitting posture is correct you will internally perceive the

infamous anatomical S-shape. I like to refer to it as the "cobra" shape. It is

when the weight of the breast cage rests on the lower spine at the point at

the level of the solar plexis (this is where the upper part of the erect cobra

slightly bends back). The feeling of the lower back is straight in any case

(this is the lower part of the erect cobra).

To check how straight your position is sit back towards a door edge, a

pillar or a stick. A mirror or a photo camera might be useful too. There

must be a S-shape or a straight line but not a forward bent of the back.

Another easy check-up is whether you are able to fill your belly with air -- if

you can the back is not straight; if you can't inflate your belly then your

position is correct.
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Shoulders: Pull the shoulders back and then release to get a naturally open

and relaxed position of the chest. Check the position by pushing the elbows

down: if the shoulders go vertically down or slightly back rather than

forward thus closing the chest, then your position should be alright.

Neck: The neck is straight. The chin is s lightly in and down allowing for the

back side of the head to be a straight extension of the spine. This way the

spine naturally extends towards the Sahasrara chakra. This position of the

chin allows for natural tensionless opening of the throat for seamless

breathing and release of the jaw and neck muscles. This is where the cobra

looks down.

An easy check-up is whether you can easily perform Ujjayi breathing (the

"Darth Vader" sound) -- if you can then the position of the chin is correct.

Mouth: The mouth is closed, the lips are closed but the teeth do not touch.

The tongue is glued to the palate towards khechari mudra but no need to

put it there forcefully -- it will assume the position naturally with attaining

a meditative state. Do not sit with chin up, back side of the head bumping

back and sight pointing at the horizon.

Sight: The sight falls about 2 meters in front of you on the floor. When

open, the eyes are half-closed which is natural to meditation states. Close

your eyes according to the requirements of your meditation technique.

Hands: The palms are placed in Dhyana mudra, the first joint of the lowerpalm placed under the fistbones of the upper palm. Thumbs are slightly and

effortlessly touching. The level of the palms is somewhere near the middle

between the navel and the genitals but may be lower if you place them on

the feet. Shoulders, arms and palms must be fully relaxed and without any

tension, elbows weight down. I find it crusial to wear proper pants like Thai

fishermen's pants or kimono that allow for forming a good base for placing

the hands, in case that your palms do not rest on your feet. Sorry, it seems

not to work with t-shirts nor with sweaters nor with other upper body dress

but a towel or a blanket folded along the long edge may do the job. You can

play with the position of your hands on the pants to adjust the tilt of the

torso, if needed. You can play with the position of the fingers (how much

they overlap) to open and close the chest and shoulders. You may use othermudras too, like Chin or Jnana mudra, but remember to keep the palms

relaxed. Eventually all these would be behind you after a certain point in

time but then you shouldn't be reading these instructions anyway.

Face: Smile and then relax the face muscles. This will leave your internal

and external face expression in a neutral-positive state which is very

beneficial.

Attention to the body: Keeping or regularly turning attention to the back

and especialy to the lower back between the waist and the tail bone helps

reducing tensions in the posture. If you find that your body twists and turns

during sitting, relax fully, center the body and keep on holding this position

consciously throughout stting.

Sitting movement: Pat the cushion first so that if becomes fluffy. Sitting

movement unfolds through squat posture towards the back edge of the cushion.

The moment your buttock touches the cushion the horns of the half-moon come

up from the ground to a horizontal position. Bend the left leg so that it almost

touches the cushion. It's better not to touch the cushion with the heel because

the skin may hurt after a while. Put the right foot on the lower left leg so that

the big and second toe will stick out in the air. It is not recommended that you

put the foot on the thigh because this way the position becomes even more

disbalanced on the left/right and the knee tends to lift from the ground; the

lower leg is just fine. Place carefully the ankle of the upper leg outside the bone

so that it doesn't cause pain on the bone/skin of the lower leg. While bendingthe legs hold the pants loose at the knees so that when bent the pressure of the

cloth won't produce pain in the course of a log sit. Bend forward to bring more

buttock flesh backwards. You may go down to the ground in a bow. Now grab

the knees with hands or just raise them slightly to make sure they bear only

their own weight but not the weight of the hips nor the body. Both knees should
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be on the ground but use them only for balance! Contract the anus slightly

(Ashvini mudra) to restore the forward/backward balance. Once sitting push

down to the floor to facilitate muscle release.

Scope: Most of the principles above can be applied to other meditation

postures like Padmasana, Siddhasana, Vajrasana, Swastikasana, Bhadrasana,

Gomukhasana.

Extras: Sitting on sand is absolutely great because sand both takes the exact

shape of your body and sustains it firmly during sitting. Go to the beach andenjoy natural sitting!

Integrate crossleged sitting into your daily life. Make your daily sitting place

suitable for proper sitting. For example, if you work on a computer put it on a

low table and sit on the ground to use it. It's best to keep the monitor on a level

to match your slightly downward pointing sight while the keyboard is placed in

such a way that your elbows are at 90 degree angle. Unfortunately to achieve

this setup you'll need to use an external monitor and keyboard for your laptop.

This is an invaluable sitting exercise.

The same goes for the eating place -- sit properly on the ground, keep the back

erect throughout the process while putting the plate on a low bench or table.

Final remarks: Play with it. Sit a lot -- without moving. The instructions above

are just one of the many available around. You will develop your own posture.

However, whatever your personal posture is, use the long sitting test because

it is the only criteria that matters in regard to formal sitting meditation

posture.

Taking it further: The purpose of a proper sitting posture is to fascilitate

(formal) meditation practice. Yet this is a whole new topic to even breefly

touch on herein. Other factors that greatly affect spiritual development are, in

no particular order:

daily schedule

diet and food intake

quality -- live/pranic eventually raw food

quantity -- little, at 1000-1500 kcal/day or less

mode -- meditation and proper posture during eating

approach -- food separation

timing -- no food for at least 4 hours before and after sleep

daily fasting helps

general and particular body condition

sleeping schedule (getting up early, going to bed early)

meditation timings (first thing in the morning and last thing in the evening

at least)

informal/constant meditation practice throughout the day in every ordinary

activity

meditation in motion (walking, washing dishes, brushing teeth, etc)eating meditation (ask)

meditation in the body

witnessing, observation of natural breathing

breathing exercises are helpful

gross pranayama as part of Raja Yoga

swimming (front crawl with breath retention is best)

other diaphragm developing sports and practices

realization/access/perception of energy centers (chakras) and channels

(nadis) in the body

developing the ability to perceive and direct the prana flows in the body

(subtle pranayama)minimizing or keeping under control bodily movement in terms of pace

(naturally relaxed), quality (continuous mindfulness), and amount (less

movement is generally better)

refraining from or minimizing action in both physical and inner realms

(footprint of personality on reality)
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intensity and content of thoughts and emotions (less is better)

reading/reciting/listening to spiritual texts or guidance (no more than 10%

of silent meditation time)

minimizing exposure of the senses of sight, hearing, touch, smell, and

taste to external (physical) and internal (memories) objects

no TV, radio, news, mainstream movies and music (the brainwashers)

ceasing, or minimizing the usage of a phone, computer, and internet

solitude, or minimal human presence as of advanced spiritual seekers

silence, or keeping speech to absolute minimum about practical daily

matters only

positivity

slowing down

quiet and natural surroundings; nature

warm climate is favorable if food is to be reduced

being in "lands of dharma", i.e. spiritual Asian countries

living out of a backpack

places charged with spiritual energy help -- see the Travel and Retreats

section

attending serious meditation retreats and staying at practicing

monasteries -- see the Travel and Retreats section

knowing the broader spiritual landscape: who is who and what is what --explore this website

sitting sessions as long as possible (without moving)

accumulation of meditation hours on daily, weekly, and longer term basis

continuity and uninterruptability of practice

observation of the Yamas and Niyamas, Seven factors of enlightenment,

Five hindrances, Eight precepts

deeper changes take time -- meditation is more of a life-long marathon

and less of a sprint (only when openings present themselves)

general intensity of inner search and effort applied

Good luck!

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How to Sit in Ardha Padmasana